Laundry washing machines



Aug. 24, 1965 G. SMITH LAUNDRY WASHING MACHINES 4. Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 17, 1962 & mm VN mm F o I. n e U n I q Altorney Aug. 24, 1965 G. SMITH 3,201,958

LAUNDRY WASHING MACHINES Filed Sept. 17, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I nvenlor Aug. 24, 1965 G. SMITH 3,201,958

LAUNDRY WASHING MACHINES Filed Sept. 17, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I nvenlor A tlorney;

Aug. 24, 1965 G. SMITH LAUNDRY WASHING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 17, 1962 I nvensor B 1 zg United States Patent 7 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Sept. 21, 1961,

33,821/ 61 1 Claim. (Cl. 68-58) The present invention relates to imrovements in laundry washing machines, and it has for its object to provide a machine capable of carrying out washing and associated operations in such manner that articles being washed travel progressively relatively to the flow of washing medium but in the opposite direction, so that articles which have already been washed encounter the clean incoming medium and incoming articles encounter the washing medium which has already been in contact with a series of articles in preceding stages. It is to be understood that the references herein to washing include other similar operations such as hot or cold rinsing operations, hot treatment operations, such as are commonly referred to as boiling operations, and preliminary washing operations.

In accordance with the present invention a laundry washing machine comprises an inner cage rotatable with in an outer cage in contact with a washing medium, the articles being caused to travel through the inner cage in the opposite direction to the flow of washing medium in the outer casing.

A washing medium may be admitted at one end and steam and/ or detergent may be admitted at different points of the outer cage so that different regimes of operation are maintained in different sections of the inner cage through which the articles being washed are caused to pass in succession in transit from one end of the inner cage to the other.

If desired, additional quantities of washing medium are admitted to predetermined points of the outer cage intermediatethe ends thereof to maintain predetermined liquid levels at various points of the outer cage, by-pass ducts being provided as required to assist in maintaining the required levels.

The inner cage is perforated and provided with a series of inwardly directed heaters to ensure that articles being washed are continuously agitated and maintained in circulation within the inner cage, such articles being lifted to a high level and then allowed to fall towards the lower part While the cage is in rotation.

Conveniently, the inner cage is provided with a series of scoops around its periphery, such scoops being arranged in a series of parallel peripheral rows so that liquid is caused to flow from the space within the outer cage into the inner cage to maintain an eflicient washing action upon the articles.

The outer cage may be provided with a series of inwardly directed fin-like portions extending towards and nearly into contact with the inner cage so as to assist in providing separate zones where different operating regimes are maintained and to prevent the through flow of washing medium lengthwise of the outer cage and cansing said washing medium to flow in successive paths into and out of the inner cage to maintain an efiicient washing action on articles being treated.

The inner cage and the outer cage are preferably arranged at a small inclination to the horizontal so that the articles being treated tend to shift progressively along the inner cage from one end to the other.

The equipment may include a drying section for articles leaving the final washing stage, said drying section being provided either by an integral part of the inner cage,

Ice

through which hot air is circulated or a separate cage or centrifugal extractor to which the articles are supplied after leaving the aforesaid inner cage in whichv washing operations are effected.

Articles leaving the inner cage may fall into a section of the outer cage from which said articles are lifted out of the washing medium by means of an elevator conveyor, and said conveyor may be associated with a presser roller to eliminate surplus liquid.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown by way of example on the accompanying drawings where- FIG. 1 is a side elevation partly in section and in diagrammatic form of a laundry washing machine according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic cross-section taken on the line II-II in FIG. 1, certain parts being omitted to show the main features more clearly,

FIGS. 3 to5 illustrate details applicable to both em bodiments of the invention; FIG. 3 being an enlarged detail in perspective showing the arrangement of the inner cage, the heaters on the inner wall thereof, the scoops on the outer wall thereof andoptional fin-like divider rings associated with the outer cage,

FIG. 4 is a detail corresponding to FIG. 3 taken lengthwise of the heaters, and

FIG. 5 is a detail showingthe mounting for the inner cage and including a sectional view through the heaters and the scoops.

In the embodimentof the invention illustrated on the accompanying drawings, the features of a laundry washing machine are shown comprising a closed liquid-holding outer cage 11 housing a relatively long perforated inner cage 12 rotatable within the cage 11 and in which various regimes of operation are maintained. .A common feature in all the embodiments described is that articles to be washed are received at or near one end of the inner cage 12 and are moved progressively or step-bystep through this cage towards the other end, and at least the major part of the washing medium is admitted to the plant adjacent said other end of the inner cage while the spent washing medium is taken away adjacent the point where incoming articles .are admitted to the inner cage. I

The progressive movement of the articles being washed can be effected in various ways. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and '2'this displacement of the-articles is obtained by the. fact that the outer cage 11 and the inner cage 12 are both slightly inclined to the horizontal. In all cases the inner cage 12 is maintained in rotation and it may, if desired, bereversed in direction from time to time. During operation and while the inner cage 12 is in rotation, the latter contains articles at different positions of its length, which are being subjected to various regimes of operation, that is to say they are being subjected to various, andprogressive, Washing operations, and are moved progressively through the inner cage.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 a progressive and continuous movement of articles within the inner cage is obtained by the fact that the inner cage 12 and the oute: cage 11 .are slightly and adjustablyinclined'to the horizontal. This embodiment will now be described it greater detail. I

As shown in FIG. 1 an outer cage '11 of-substantiall; circular shape is supported on a frame member 15 whicl in turnis pivotally mounted at 16 on a ground suppor' not separately shown but represented by the ground l-inr 1'7, and a screw adjustment device 18 is provided to permit the inclination of the frame '15 to the horizontal t( be adjusted. An additional support screw 19 may be provided at an intermediate point as shown. The innei cake 12 .rotataibly supportedlwithin the outer: cage 11.. by means of a' series of adjustable'support rollers-20 (see also FIG. which engage-smooth rings 21 on the inner cage. 12. The rings/21, are disposed gat each'side-of t o he fins m n b sil wh ia fansedzf r; n e r'nentflat the top ofi theioiuter cage 11 by driving: p v lions 23 carried .by al'shaft 24 driven motorrzjiithrough a variable speed gearing 26indicated in outline form. The H support rollers 2 0 may,' if desired, includ an idlerrpinion 201Pbetweer'ithemfa s shown in FIGS. land. 5; and lateral guidance may befobtained, by, a lateralfguide roller 2 disposed on a nearly radial axis. The fslight inclination to'the true radialddirection isfsuch thatthebearingffaces' I are -of .slightly tapered'form, to secure good running propertiesf i It, will be seen from-H6, 1; that several (three. in the dra ings) S ts, of rings 21;?22 are .distri buted'alon-g the 5 I the movement length of the innerycage,.each being supported by'roller' units 20', 291 on the two sidesLof, the vertioalcentr-al plane 3f the cages. One of suclijunitslon one'side isgprovidedt witha lateral guide roller'2 02, whileacorresponding nit on the other; sideofthe axism-ay be provided with" at ih fl u de. ro e groups 21,;22.

legal! cases the l u d lum ewehifi in r-ca e l 2 .and 'outer cage 11 isireducedjtojthe minimurnl, so that he washing medium is'causedi to' trayel throughthe, inner.

:age rather than between. the inner 'and: outercages, and

on the other side {of one of; the: ring hy'the rotation of the inner In'nallcases caused to'flowinto and through the cage 12 partly by the rotation of said cage itself and' partly by the action of a the scoops29 ,whiclrmaintain. alfiow of liquid inwardly of the cage; 12 asindicated by the arrows 32 (-FIGL-Z),

such inward movementof the liquid being effected through'thep peripheral Walls of the cage 12 and also 1 through-the perforatedleading faces ofithe heaters 13.

The inward movementof the .-w-ashing medium acting on the batch of articles being carried upwardly in the angle between the. risingfbeater 1;3 and the peripheral wall f the inner cage 12 helpsv in preventing the articles from being; pressed jagainst the walls of the, cage and maintains an efiicient washing action at every point of of the articlescduring the washing oper- I ations. I

i th'e'plant. I Thus',-refer-ring to FIGLflincomingarticles his action may be'assisted' by the proyision of ring merniers 5 2 as explained hereinafterj Furthermore the r oller upport units 20, 201 (with roller, 2 0 2 yin some jcases) nay be housed in extension housings or fpodsf"'20a on h Outer a 1 as ndic dont ad e n The peripheralwall'sof the innerbfl cilllwarej perforated '1 nd said cage is ;pr oyi ded internally ,a s erisi' of, V- haped heaters: 13. 'l hejside wallsvof these heatersare .op'enin'gfifi andcarries the articles awayforfurther treat rs ra and th re/is noner r t d len thwise livision member .27. The space within s'aid heaters is a j articles; andrthere may be a pluralityof such rollers 39 urthermore divided into a. number 0f} separate sections y means of tright angles to ;the1division n e ber '27. I

Sm r r a tach olth mit l 7 1 h i n age- 12-vas shown inEIGS 3 and 4,]one set o f s'co'ops I eing conveniently arranged opposite each division menier" 27, while additional scoops may be plfoyided. onthe writ -a a be w en-ad a en h aters. 1 .These :oops are arranged ina series of parallel'zones aronnd r siia r a e 8I hQW11A -FI r r at ents 1e container andeach scoop comprisesgarbox likeportion r rtending' inbothgdirectionson the outer face of the cage being 's i o edb n x llsiqi i w io 30 of ision memberZT; -It willbe seentlraton rotationiof the tnerca'ge 12 in one direction or the other,- one or other the PirplectiflgzPOfWiiS e hlszerxWah in; tor :e washing medium into 'thetiinnerg cage 12 and those f oops arranged near the beaters I 3 causei'a flowof liquid rough the perforations inv-thebeaters, 1a of the .water" reamsso direetedinto the inner cage assisting in main- I ining an e tndled.

: explained in more detail with refer'ence tci FIiG I Z. of e drawings where-it is assume atthe inner cage 12 mm? wa h l i i l t 1 99 th W es b ing This action ;upon the" article s, being washed now being rotated in the anti-clockwise ater IS -at' the lding to lift a charge of articles initially lu' owerrnost section offthelinner cage d 1th resting-in the angle between one perforateds i ewall the :beater and the peripheral wall of the page, and this a lower pa'rtj of' the cage so' that these" articles are ma nf nest-in circulationin a path which may be somewhat indicated in run li s bfyfthe arrow}; iri iro. 1 .9 j The outer cage 11 contains washing medium toa p' termined level inthe static state;

washing ,rnedium end of; the outer cage 11-fromIwhich the articles which have finished 'thei'r treatment are withdrawnQ As shown lano- .',-t ;in et pipe, epen int t w 3 -b i it "are supplied onjthe conveyor '33 inga continuous fiow and they then pass for examplebyjrneans of the guide ehu te 34' into one'end: of the-cage'lzfwhich is'provided with ga f eed opening 35Jfor this purpose.

' Articles being'washed and caused to travel through the inner cage 12,,-by,v reasonof the inclination i I the cage 1 2 .v A risingconveyor 38, extending out vof this wellgreceiycs. the articles lea'yingtthe'cage 1 2-through the irnent; If. desired a 'pressenroller "39 may be provided above the conveyor 38 to express, surplus water; from the V "hydroeextr'actors "Such*a.,fcentrifuge may be arranged co axially of and in line with thet inner cagell but in mostcases it would rotate at a higher speed than the 'cage'lz. i

As already indicated; thejwashing-medium flows in .the opposite direction to the travel of 'articlesrthrough the v inner cage 12', and for -.thispurposeclean incoming :is admitted through a pipe-41' to the shouldbe understood that 7 this well forms -;an optional feature; of; the invention and when such a well is 7 not provided :the pipe. 541i is connected directly to the correpondingfend of tl aeouter cage 11.v 1 The spent; washing medium removed from the" other'encl of the cage -;11 near 'thejeedppening 35 for-the garticles,'.is ,taken oftthrough 6 a p pe 42 a' s en -liquon:

' Itwill 'be'nnderstood that a serieshoffdifferent washmg regimes maybeymaintainedflin the diiTerentzones of.

inner cage fl 2 anid these mayjlvary and rnaybe varied to sint particular requirements.- Qne example may comprise the'.fo 1owing; steps; counting: from the-inlet- 35 to (1*) {Cold washing operationi, i Q

Y F1 Hot wa hii s re ation {(3); Boiling operation. i-( lfi in e- (5)"'Coldrinse. r I o a v 7 In order to; maintainithees ditferent reginies of operation-variousfadditions n1ay be madeto the' washingZ-me dium flowing through. the outer cage ,;1 -1. For example and asshown Ion FIG l, a steam supply pipe 43 may be the articlesjare moyed leng thwise through the innerjcage '12, this movement; being in .the I oppo-- lsite direction tovthefflowofwashingl medium through provided which embodies one or more delivery pipes 44 to admit steam at one or more points of the cage 11.

It will, of course, be understood that with this type of operation and with the equipment in continuous movement, it is difficult to say that the washing medium reaches any particular level in the outer cage 11 at any particular point because a large proportion of the washing medium is being circulated through the inner cage 12, which action is promoted by the action of the scoops 29 which maintain a substantial proportion of the liquid in movement from the upper part of the inner cage 12 to the lower part thereof. Nevertheless, it may be found that a greater proportion of washing medium collects in certain zones of the outer cage 11 than is required for operation in that section of the equipment, while other parts of the inner cage 12 may be short of washing medium, and for this purpose a by-pass pipe 43 may be provided for collecting liquid from a higher level and returning it to a lower level, or a series of such pipes may be provided as required to maintain the proper amounts of liquid at various points of the inner cage 12.

Conveniently the washing medium admitted at the pipe 41 will comprise lime-free softened water so that the section towards the right-hand side of the outer cage 11 and inner cage 12 in FIG. 1 is effective for rinsing the articles completing the washing stages. In such case detergent media are added to the washing medium at any suitable point of the outer cage 11. Thus, for example, a detergent liquid or powder may be fed into the cage 11 by means of a feed pipe 5%), as indicated on FIG. 1.

In many cases it may be desirable to provide means within the outer cage 11 which hinder the free flow of washing medium or water from one point to the other and to ensure that all this liquid passes through the inner cage 12. For this purpose and as indicated on FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 of the drawings, a series of inwardly directed fins or rings 52 are attached to the inner wall of the outer cage 11 and terminate comparatively close to the peripheral wall of the inner cage 12, these fins or rings 52 being placed between successive rows of scoops 29 as will be most clearly seen on FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings.

In any event, however, the spacing between the outer surface of the inner cage 12 and the inner wall of the outer cage 11 is kept as small as possible in volume so that the washing medium fed in through the pipe 41 is absorbed to the greatest possible extent by the inner cage 12 where it is applied in contact with the articles under treatment and travelling through the inner cage 12.

Where such fins or rings 52 are provided the positions thereof may coincide with the positions of the division members or radial plates 28 (FIG. 4) dividing the beaters 13 into separate zones. With an arrangement of this type the washing medium cannot flow freely within the outer cage 11 but is forced by the action of the scoops to travel inwardly into the inner cage 12, and the progressive movement of the washing medium is effected mainly by the movement thereof within the inner cage 12 thus maintaining an efiicient washing action upon the articles.

As an optional feature, there may be provided at the top of the casing 11 an opening 11a, as suggested in the alternative structure shown in FIGURE 2 of the drawings, for convenient access to the interior of the casing.

What I claim is:

A laundry washing machine comprising a cylindrical outer casing of uniform configuration, a perforated cylindrical inner cage disposed within and co-axially of said casing, both said cage and said casing being inclined to the horizontal, the lengths of said cage and said casing substantially exceeding their respective diameters, means to feed articles to be washed into the upper end of the inner cage, means to remove washed articles from the lower end of the inner cage, means to rotate said inner cage about its longitudinal axis within said outer casing, means to supply washing liquid at the lower end of the outer casing and to extract it from the higher end of said outer casing after traversing the length of said casing, means to provide different operating regimes at different points in the length of said outer casing; and beaters disposed parallel to said longitudinal axis, and extending the whole length of the inner cage to lift the articles simultaneously from the lower zone of the cage along its whole length to a higher position and then to allow them to fall to a lower level position for progression lengthwise of the inner cage by gravity action, each of said beaters comprising a V-shaped perforated portion and an imperforate longitudinally extending web member extending radially inwardly from said inner wall into the apex of said V-shaped portion to divide the space enclosed between said V-shaped portion and said inner wall into two longitudinally extending partial spaces, and partition walls extending radially inwardly from said inner wall into the space enclosed between said V-shaped portion and said inner wall to divide said two partial spaces into a number of compartments said machine furthermore comprising first and second liquid scoops disposed on the outer surface of the inner cage, said first scoops being in communication with the interior of said inner cage, and said second scoops being in communication with said compartments of said beaters, said scoops causing washing liquid to be scooped up during rotation of said inner cage and directed on to articles lifted by said heaters so as to urge said articles away from said heaters and said inner wall and thereby to improve the washing action of the machine, and a series of inwardly directed fin-like ibafile members extending circumferentially and radially inwardly from the outer casing towards and nearly into contact with the inner cage between adjacent peripheral rows of said scoops so as to assist in providing separate zones where different operating regimes are maintained and to impede the direct through-flow of washing liquid lengthwise of the machine in the space between said outer casing and said inner cage and to cause said washing liquid to flow in successive paths into and out of the inner cage to maintain an etfic-ient washing action on articles to be treated.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 110,749 1/71 Deveau 68-439 1,029,866 6/12 Haskell 68--181 X 1,402,765 1/ 22 Haskell 68-181 1,577,860 3/26 Yates 68142 2,180,225 11/39 Dewhurst 68140 2,300,690 11/42 Neuman 68-158 X 2,401,947 6/46 Locke 68-139 X FOREIGN PATENTS 217,047 1/57 Australia.

489,794 8/38 Great Britain.

IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner. WALTER A. SCHEEL, Examiner. 

